App-y with our iPad

When the iPads first came out, I didn’t really get the “fuss” around them. I didn’t own an iPhone at the time and used to joke that people would look a bit strange walking down the road taking a call on an iPad (well, they would!) I saw someone using one in Starbucks a couple of days after their release and it coincided with my decision to upgrade to an iPhone on contract renewal. What a transformation….

I did not realised how the iPhone and then subsequently the iPad would revolutionise our lives. In particular, my daughter’s life.

D has autism and is 8 years old. She has severe learning difficulties, heightened sensory awareness and delayed motor skills. She attends a special needs school, and is in a class of eight pupils, with four staff.

The iPhone arrived, was duly set up with music and then I thought I’d investigate Apps.

To say that D enjoys and benefits from the apps is an under-statement. As far as reaching the apps goes, the connection is instantaneous, there is no waiting for a computer to boot up and then the laborious log-in and connect to the Internet to play games – as long as you are in a wifi area, you’re good to go!

The swipe and touch screen is very easy for her to navigate and she very quickly got the hang of your home screen and turning the iPad/iPhone around to either play games/get a larger screen.

There are plenty of autism-specific apps which work upon the basis of cause and effect. Apps such as touching the screen with your fingertips to form patterns, shapes and sounds.

The apps D enjoys are those linked with her favourite characters – Humf, Angry Birds and Peppa Pig. Cupcakes, Sneezies, Cut the Rope and Sprinkles are also favourites. Easily accessible and she is able to switch from one to the other very easily.

YouTube – where she is able to call up (sometimes repeatedly) her favourite Angry Birds trailer/Muppets song – is again, very accessible, very quick, very positively received.

iPads are so amazing for our SN children and the Hearts & Minds scheme really does make it possible for more children to get them

I knew that iPads and apps were beneficial to special needs children, it wasn’t until we were lucky enough to own one that I could understand why.

Thanks for reading, comments/RTs/shares as ever welcomed Jx 😘